Grill’d quietly ends run of two plant-based venues

The Impossibly Grill’d restaurants had a menu that featured 23 plant-based burgers.

Grill’d restaurants in Crown Street, NSW and Collingwood, VIC that were converted to exclusively plant-based venues in February have been reverted back to their original menu and branding after three weeks, the chain confirmed.

“This trial was always a test, and we got the insights we were looking for to inform our future plans,” Grill’d said in a statement.

The Impossibly Grill’d restaurants had a menu that featured 23 plant-based burgers, including the new Grill’d Impossible burgers and a range of salads and sides.

“Feedback on our meat-free chicken – both burgers and bites – was incredibly positive, while there are many who love their free-range, grass-fed, hormone-free beef and lamb burgers and want ‘their local’ to serve the same. There seems to be a real appetite to trial new sustainability-led product innovations across the board, and we one-day expect to operate traditional ‘red’ and innovative ‘green’ Grill’d restaurants in the same inner-city urban suburbs,” the chain added.

Grill’d maintained that plant-based options are “on the rise” but “never” expected it to “dominate the burger category.” 

“[B]ut as an inclusive and progressive brand that caters to all food tribes, we will continue to innovate in the plant-based space,” it said.